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<title>How Scars Tell Stories by Arandottir</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29671539">How Scars Tell Stories</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arandottir/pseuds/Arandottir'>Arandottir</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Skulduggery Pleasant - Derek Landy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Light Romance, Mentions of Blood, No Lesbians Die, Oneshot, Scars, Slightly out of canon, depressed valkyrie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 23:55:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>539</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29671539</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arandottir/pseuds/Arandottir</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Militsa counts her girlfriend’s scars.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Valkyrie Cain/Militsa Gnosis</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>How Scars Tell Stories</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>“Isn’t it beautiful? That we get hurt but we never give up?”</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>1</p><p>“You’re just a girl!” One of the young boys said as she joined them on the pier. “You can’t jump like us.” The other boys just laughed at her. <br/>But she pushed them aside and, taking a deep breath, ran forward, jumping off the cliffs and down into the cold, salty waters below. When she emerged from the water the boys cheered, and she smiled to herself smugly, despite the cut on her forearm. <br/>When it healed, she was left with a thin white line of a scar. Valkyrie was seven at the time. </p><p>Militsa hadn’t been there, of course. But she’d been told. It was the first scar of Valkyrie’s she counted.</p><p>3</p><p>Beryl berated Valkyrie for falling off her bike, telling her she shouldn’t have been going so fast anyway, telling her she was just a little girl. She stood there, tears running down her face, her knees bleeding, and she was scarred that day in more ways then one. </p><p>4, 5, 6</p><p>Valkyrie had cuts and scrapes all over her shins and ankles from playing soccer. Most of them healed, though, so she didn’t know if they count. </p><p>10, 11, 12</p><p>Valkyrie still had scars from the tree she fell out of near the vault, her first dangerous mission with Skulduggery. </p><p>18, 19, 20</p><p>She got so many scars from her training with Tanith. But now they mean something different. Now they are an accomplishment.</p><p>Militsa ran her fingered over the scars on her arms and her back. </p><p>30, 31, 32</p><p>Her hands are scarred from gripping the side of the church building she was thrown off, and she swore to herself, wishing she’d worn the gloves Ghastly made her to protect her hands. Ghastly, a good man more scarred then her but in many less ways. </p><p>40</p><p>When Tanith was nailed to a chair something broke inside Valkyrie, to see her friend in such pain. Scars were horrible things. Tanith’s hands and collarbones healed, but young Valkyrie remained scarred. </p><p>87, 88</p><p>Every time she cried out in grief and loss, every time she lost another loved one, she was scarred all over again</p><p>Militsa wished she’d been there all along.</p><p>90</p><p>Oh how it had hurt to know you were the one who wanted to burn the world. </p><p>91, 92, 93</p><p>Militsa watched how she glared at everyone she passed, her harsh replies to people’s stares. Only Militsa notices how her clenched fists shake as she walks away. </p><p>100, 101, 102</p><p>Militsa cleaned her wounds gently but watched her eyes. Those scars wouldn’t fade either, she didn’t think, no matter how much her skin healed. <br/>“His blade ran me through.” Valkyrie admitted quietly. “I didn’t even think I’d survive.”<br/>“I’m so grateful that you did.” Militsa whispered, blinking back tears. <br/>Valkyrie grinned, and the familiar sight warmed her heart. “Me too.”</p><p>108</p><p>Battles have always left her with scars, but this fight, it feels different from all the rest. <br/>Valkyrie lay on the ground, blood pooling around her from places she’d been wounded. Some of it wasn’t even her own blood. And as the world burns around her and her vision fades, she wonders if they will live to count the marks left behind.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is my first fanfic</p></blockquote></div></div>
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